decision making

The single most costly and common error a manager can make?

February 13, 2008 by admin

Anger - disposition or context?

The ‘fundamental attribution error’ is, in my experience, the single most common and expensive mistake a manager can make.

The fundamental attribution error is our tendency to over-emphasize ‘dispositional’, or ‘personality-based’, explanations for behaviours observed in others while, simultaneously under-emphasizing ‘situational’ explanations. In other words, we tend to assume that someones actions depend on what “kind” of person they are rather than on the contextual forces influencing the person.

So when someone loses their rag in a meeting it is because they are an angry person who can’t control their behaviour and is unprofessional. When someone cuts us up on the motorway it is because they are a bad driver. If someone pushes in front of us at Tesco’s it is because they are rude.

This error frequently creeps into our management. Especially when people are not performing as we would like. It is convenient to tell ourselves that their behaviour is because of who they are as a person – rather than because of the context in which they are behaving. This is because we are powerless to change ‘who they are as a person’ so as a manger we need do nothing – we just accept it. If we start to consider how the context in which they are operating drives the behaviour then we might have to take a bit more responsibility in making changes. And quite often we find out that the behaviour that we are getting is at its very root caused by the very context that we are paid to manage!

It requires us to resist the temptation to resort to the quick label (they are just lazy/bad/angry/bossy/arrogant/unprofessional). These labels let us off the hook but leaves the situation unchanged and the behaviour likely to recur.

Instead we should ask ourselves why a rational, sensible and good person would behave that way. We need to learn to think ‘How Fascinating!’. We are then forced to consider how context may have driven the behaviour, and what we might be able to do as a manager to change the context.

So for example perhaps the colleague who lost their rag in the meeting is not just Mr Angry – but is really frustrated at being talked over all the time. In this case we might be able to facilitate the meeting a little more robustly, ensure that everyone gets their voice heard and the angry behaviour is likely to disappear.

By considering these contextual factors we do create ourselves more work (this IS the work of management and should not be shied away from) but we also give ourselves a genuine chance of making things better. The kinds of contextual factors that cause ‘bad’ behaviours include:

lack of skills, judgement or experience (bad driving for example)
the behaviours of others (angry outbursts from someone who feels they are continually being interrupted)
lack of incentive/disincentive (the bad behaviour is unrecognised and therefore repeated)
unchallenged group norms (our meetings always start late)

So learn to recognise and challenge the fundamental attribution error at work. I guarantee it will make you a much better manager.

Thinking strategically; flies, bees, pike and shoulder blades

February 7, 2008 by admin

Most strategy training talks about the importance of developing a strategic plan and then aligning employees with the strategy. This is an outmoded view of strategy. I prefer to see strategy as a thinking and doing process – with the focus on achieving success tomorrow – rather than today. Many managers struggle to find the time to do this strategic thinking and find it even harder to act strategically.

Learning from Mr Pike

The pike is one of the most efficient, lean predating machines in freshwater. If you put a small pike in an aquarium with a bunch of minnows it will demonstrate its predatory skills with frightening efficiency. If you separate the pike from the minnows using a sheet of perspex the pike will continue to launch its attacks for a little while. And then it will just give up. You can then remove the sheet of perspex and the pike will still believe that it can no longer catch its prey – and will simply starve to death.

Flies and Bees

Imagine putting half a dozen house flies and half a dozen bumble bees in glass bottle. The bottle is placed with its base towards a window and the open end towards the middle of the room. The bees are strategically aligned to fly towards the sunlight. The presence of the glass is a mystery to them. They buzz and buzz away at the bottom of the glass driving towards the sunshine – until they too die. The flies on the other hand are much less ‘strategically aligned’. They fly in far more random patterns and within a few minutes most of them will have found their way to freedom.

Native Americans and Cracked Shoulder Blades

Some native American tribes used to use shoulder blades to help them plan their hunt. The night before the hunt would leave they would throw a shoulder blade from a buffalo or deer on the camp fire. In the morning the bone would have a pattern of cracks caused by the heat of the fire. The pattern of these cracks – which was essentially random would be used to indicate to the hunting party in which direction they should seek their quarry. So why would they rely on such a random way of choosing their hunting grounds? Because without using a randomiser like this they would tend to over work the most productive hunting grounds and threaten the sustainability of the tribe and its environment.

These three stories illustrate something about the nature of strategy and strategic thinking – the perils of over specialisation, the risks of alignment, the problems of holding on to outdated learning and the importance of diversity and randomisation. I am sure that analysis and planning have their place – but it is thinking and acting strategically that creates real value.

121s and the Return on Investment in Relationships

January 18, 2008 by admin

Tom Peters encourages managers to obsess on R.O.I.R – the Return on Investment in Relationships.

Usually what has to be invested is not cash – but time. And the challenge is to invest that time effectively.

For me, without doubt, the most effective tool for ROIR with employees is the 121. These are structured, documented 30 minute meetings held with each member of staff, every week. They provide the most effective ROIR with employees that I have ever seen.

ROIR through 121s comes in many forms:

increased staff retention
improved productivity
recognition and acknowledgement of progress
appreciation of those who are performing well
identification of under performance and early resolution
promotion of behaviours that reinforce strategic goals and values
increased tempo of coaching to develop potential and performance
deeper professional relationships
increased trust
increased influence
increased responsiveness
better support of team members in their work
conduit for ideas from the front line to be heard and acted upon
management support for every member of the team – every week
improved communication and focus on what matters
progress made and recognised on a weekly basis
increased sense of urgency in the team
encourage individuals to think through their contribution to team or organisational objectives
increased initiative and enterprise
planning remains flexible and dynamic
documentation makes performance reviews simpler and less contentious
barriers to high performance are removed
factors contributing to poor performance are identified and resolved
formal opportunities for delegation
feedback – both given and received
increased employee engagement
improved knowledge management and knowledge sharing
better talent management and development
increased creativity
more responsibility taken voluntarily by more people
reduced absenteeism
more diversity as 121s recognise that ‘one size fits one’

Perhaps some of these are things that you as a manager need to work on. If you are already using 121s then think how you can use them more effectively for the things that matter most to you and your business.

If you are not already using 121s then you have a tremendous opportunity to improve your management practice.

By the way – additions to the list are very welcome!

The Limits of Lean?

January 16, 2008 by admin

Earlier this week I went to ‘An Evening with Simon Hill’. Drawing on his experience of manufacturing industry and Yorkshire Forward, Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward talked about strategic business improvement using ‘Lean Principles’. Simon chose not to offer a quick reminder of what these Lean Principles are – leaving a proportion of the audience in the dark. As a reminder they are:

Specify what creates value from the customers’ perspective
Identify all the steps along the process chain
Make those processes flow
Make only what is pulled by the customer
Strive for perfection by continually removing waste

With its origins in the world of total quality management Lean Principles provide a wonderful way to ensure efficient product or service delivery by allowing the whole business process to be analysed and made efficient. It emphasises systems, compliance, analysis and objectivity in pursuit of the perfect process. It really is scientific management for the late 20th Century. It is one of several business improvement tools that can help an organisation with one of its purposes – that of the efficient delivery of a product or service.

However increasingly efficiency is not the only game in town. Indeed it is not even the main game for most organisations. Renewal, re-invention and transformation are increasingly the key drivers of sustainable value creation in modern knowledge based economies. If I heard Simen rightly then after a considerable investment of money and time in implementing Lean his business had just about managed to stand still. Now this is an great achievement for a manufacturer of automotive components in South Yorkshire – but I doubt if it carries the seeds for a major economic re-birth.

My concern is the ‘story’ that Lean tells about the nature of business and enterprise. That it is about analysis, rationality, incremental improvement and mediocrity – giving the customer just what they ask for – when they ask for it. It is that the expectations of the customer should drive the production of the organisation. And Lean is not just a set of tools – it is a management philosophy – a culture. It becomes the way we think and act.

Andrew Mawson – one of the UKs most outstanding social entrepreneurs tells of the first time he asked some members of his community what they would really like to do. It turned out that they aspired to go on a day trip to the coast. Fair enough thought Andrew and worked with them to make it happen. After the trip had been undertaken he asked them what they would like to do next? And the reply came – ‘Let’s go on another trip to the (same) coast’! Let’s do it again! Andrew recognised that the aspirations of his customers were narrow. That he could provide experiences far more powerful and effective in driving community development. He understood that they had no real idea of what was possible. So he proposed that their next project was to be a journey across the Sinai desert. As their supplier he transformed their ideas of what could be achieved based on his on his knowledge, experience and expertise. This would never had happened had been trained in Lean principles.

And now Lean Simon tells us Lean consultants are being engaged by Yorkshire Forward to increase organisational efficiency. No doubt pieces of paper will soon be travelling less far on their journey through the offices, being touched by fewer people and processes generally more efficiently. And many of the employees perceptions will be reinforced that their role is not to facilitate the entrepreneurial re-birth of the region – but to design and administer effective bureaucratic processes.

For me business is about emotion, aspiration, imagination, passion, energy and risk. I am not making an argument for waste (although I do often find myself encouraging clients to ‘create slack’) but I am arguing for cultures that favour action and re-invention over perfection. If the price of Lean is a culture that favours analysis and incrementalism over imagination, re-invention and risk taking then I for one find it a price I am not prepared to pay.

At the end of the presentation I asked Simon whether he really felt that Lean held the answers to sustainable competitiveness in knowledge based business – whether it could drive the creativity and innovation necessary to compete in the future. And he answered ‘ No!’.

Better Time Management in an Instant!

January 14, 2008 by admin

Time management has been on my mind for a while now. Early last year I re-read Druckers’ Effective Executive – the second chapter of which, ‘Know they Time’, is devoted to time management. I recommend it highly!

For the vast majority of managers that I work with making significant improvements in their time management is quick and easy. It simply requires them to:

Work out their top priority for the coming week/month
Block out at least 2 x 90 minute slots each week when they are going to work – without interruption – on moving that priority forward.

It takes no more than that – get time for your priorities on your schedule!

This is important because so many managers just hope to fit progress on key priorities around a morass of standing meetings, e-mail and fire-fighting. Weeks slip by without any focus on progressing the priority. Yet once it is scheduled – and the time protected – BINGO! – the priority gets time and progress is made.

And while I am at it – unless work is really THE most important thing in your life – take great care about giving up week-ends and evenings to do it. Working longer hours is rarely the key to getting more done. It usually results in getting less done and only serves to slow down the rate of work; why have a sense of urgency to get the job done if you can always stay just another half an hour?

If you find that you must work evenings or week-ends then always make sure that you have a firm end-time for the work fixed – and stick to it. Make an appointment with what you love outside of work (family, hobby whatever) immediately after your work commitment and keep it. This will force you to use your time effectively.